Christmas 2001
by Rydia Asuka
Summary: Twoshot! Larry and Phoenix go over to help Miles and his father decorate their tree on Christmas Eve. Chaos, fun, and friendship ensue, leaving Miles to wish he'd never met these crazy people...mostly thanks to Larry. Disclaimer: Owned by Capcom, not me.
1. Chapter 1

**December 24****th****, 2001**

The clear, bright sky mocked the city of Tokyo as last-minute shoppers scurried to and fro, there would be no white Christmas this year. It was the twenty-fourth of December, and the big day was nearly upon them.

Phoenix Wright's breath came in short, white puffs as his feet crunched over the gravel leading up to the house of Miles Edgeworth, his best friend. Both Phoenix and his other best friend, Larry, had been invited over to the Edgeworth's to help Miles and his father decorate their tree.

Rubbing his hands together impatiently, Phoenix danced upon the step to keep warm; the cold was nothing more than a mockery, as there had yet to be any snow this winter.

Looking up to where his mother stood over him, waiting until her son was safely inside the Edgeworth residence to leave, the black-haired boy grinned excitedly. He had been looking forward to this day all week! Both he and Larry had only ever been to Miles' house a few times, and every time they did go was like a new adventure. Miles' dad told amazing stories, about strange clients he had had, and exciting people he had met in his years as a defence attorney. So today was like a double bonus, not only was it Christmas Eve, but they were going to get to hang out at Miles'! It certainly did not hurt that his father was an amazing cook, either.

"Be patient, Phoenix," his mother laughed out, her blue eyes twinkling in the brilliant sunlight. "I'm sure Mr. Edgeworth will answer the door in a minute."

She would, however, be proven wrong only moments later, as the door swung open to reveal Miles himself.

"Miles!"

"Phoenix! Come on in!" the grey-haired boy exclaimed, stepping aside to allow his friend entrance. Never being one to forget his manners, Miles immediately turned to Mrs. Wright, offering her a small bow. "Good day to you, Mrs. Wright, would you like to come in?"

Laughing, the pretty woman waved off the invitation, pointing back to her car as she did so. "Thank you Miles, but I really must be getting home. I have work to do too, you know. Tell your father I said hello for me, will you? I'll be back to get Phoenix around five."

Once Miles had said his farewells and shut the door, he turned back to see his friend frowning at him.

"Phoenix? Is something wrong?"

"What did you invite her in for? I mean, I know she didn't _come_ in, but what if she had? I don't want my mom sneaking around while we're trying to play!"

Miles stared at him incredulously before breaking down into a series of amused chuckles.

"What? What's so funny?"

"N-nothing, never mind, Phoenix. Let's just go in, okay?"

Glowering at his friend for a second longer, Phoenix removed his shoes and placed them carefully beside his friend's before removing his jacket and hanging it up. He had learned on his first trip to the Edgeworth's to always be neat. Miles said his father hated a messy house. Yet on the one occasion the Phoenix had snuck a peek into Gregory Edgeworth's office, he began to suspect that maybe Miles was the one who hated messes. He was fairly certain that it was safe to say no neat freak could survive in that office.

"So, is Larry here yet?" he asked, previous irritation completely forgotten.

"No, but he's always late anyway."

Phoenix laughed cheerfully at Miles' blunt—but true—observation.

"So what do you wanna do?" he asked as they made their way up the stairs to Miles' room.

"Want to, and we're going to decorate my tree."

"Well yeah, but we can't start until Larry gets here, and that could be awhile…"

Shrugging, Miles opened the door to his room, standing aside to allow Phoenix entry.

Plunking himself down on his friend's double bed, the black-haired boy gazed around the large, spacious room with curious, blue eyes. The room was minimally furnished, as per Miles' style, with only a few treasured photographs—mostly of him and his parents—decorating his walls. Law books lined his shelves, lined neatly up in alphabetical order. Filling the openings between the books, and a few areas in front of the books, were assorted action figures. Enough to at least prove his humanity, anyway, or so Phoenix thought. It was nice to have some confirmation that the law-obsessed boy had a more boyish, human side.

"Hey, is that a new figure?" he asked, rising from the bed to move over and inspect the mobile doll.

Grinning, Miles moved over to the black-haired boy's side.

"Yup! My dad got it for me. It was supposed to be a Christmas present, but he gave it to me early."

Picking the figurine up, Phoenix ran his fingers over its smooth parts, inspecting it closely.

Grinning, Phoenix positioned the sword in the object's arm to point at his friend. "Engarde, Mr. Edgeworth!"

Shaking his head, the grey-haired boy sighed and turned away to cast an eye over his neatly arranged, law books.

"Phoenix…honestly, you're being so childish."

Frowning, Phoenix stuck his tongue out at the other boy.

"Well, I don't know if you noticed, Miles, but we _are_ children," he pointed out cheekily.

"Touché," Miles stated, relieving Phoenix of the figure and returning it to its shelf.

"To—what?"

"Never mind, Phoenix."

Before any further playful bickering could be sparked, a sharp rap off of Miles' bedroom window drew the attention of both boys. Walking over to look out the window, Phoenix began to laugh while Miles threw open his window to yell out it.

"Larry! Why can't you ever just knock on the door like a normal person?"

Shrugging, the blond boy tossed another pebble from hand to hand.

"Dunno, this is funner."

"More fun! And we'll be down in a moment." Turning back to Phoenix, Miles sighed, "well, let's go let him in."

Phoenix did not have to be told twice, as he was almost halfway out of the room by the time the grey-haired boy had finished speaking.

With a strained sigh at his two friends' overly excitable behaviour, Miles shut his window and followed Phoenix back downstairs at a much more leisurely pace. It was the fool's own fault if he was stuck out in the cold a little longer than necessary. Rolling his eyes, Miles chuckled to himself. Larry probably enjoyed it.

By the time he arrived downstairs, Phoenix had already opened to door to let Larry in. Raising a questioning eyebrow, Miles stepped forward, accepting Larry's jacket to hang it alongside his and Phoenix'.

"So what're we doin'?"

Sighing at Larry's atrocious butchery of the Japanese language, Miles nodded his head in the general direction of the living room.

"Well now that you've chosen to grace us with your presence, I thought we could go decorate the tree. Since my Father _is_ waiting for us."

"Aw, did you hear the Nick? Edgey thinks my presence is graceful!"

Blinking, Phoenix mimicked Miles' headshake as he spoke, "Larry, I don't think, somehow, that that's what he meant…or that that was a compliment."

Ignoring the other two boys, Miles walked off into the living room, knowing that they would follow him; hopefully leaving the rest of the house intact when they did so.

"H-hey, Edgey! Wait for us!" Larry yelped, sprinting off after his friend. As he ran, the blond boy managed to bump heavily into a small table that the Edgeworth's kept in their front hall. On the table was a small vase that had belonged to the late Mrs. Edgeworth.

With a yelp, Phoenix leaped forward and managed to catch the vase before it shattered on the floor.

Attracted by the sound, Miles re-entered the hallway, wincing at the sight that met his grey eyes.

"Larry…"

"Hey, don't look at me! I didn't do anything!"

"When something smells…"

"Okay, okay! Maybe I did have _something_ to do with it…"

Straightening up, Phoenix returned the vase to its position. "Something? I think it's safe to say it was your fault!"

Raising an eyebrow, Miles turned to look at Phoenix, "thanks."

"Hey, don't mention it. Somebody has to watch The Butz."

Annoyed at being left out, Larry smacked his fist off of the wall, "h-hey! At least my hair doesn't look like it could impall somebody through!"

"The word is impale, Larry, and how does Phoenix' hair factor into this?"

Ignoring the question, Larry turned away from his two friends and resumed the walk to the living room; calling back as he did so, "stop being so slow. C'mon you two!"

Running a hand through his long, grey bangs, Miles shrugged and began following the rambunctious boy, not wishing to see his house suffer any more of Larry.

Eventually the three arrived, intact, in the living room, where the Edgeworth's tree stood tall and proud. Gregory Edgeworth was also there, long strings of lights in either hand.

"Well boys, ready for some Christmas fun?" he asked, smiling invitingly.

Rubbing the back of his head, Phoenix smiled sheepishly at his friend's father. "Sorry about all of the noise, Mr. Edgeworth, sir."

"Don't worry about it, Phoenix. No harm done, right?"

"Right!" Larry chimed in from the doorway, giving them all a broad wink and a thumb's up. "Hear that Nick, Edgey? No harm done! Everything's a'okay!"

"You're impossible."

Laughing at his son's blunt statement, Gregory Edgeworth shook his head lightly. "Now Miles, that's not very nice."

"But it's true!" Phoenix pointed out.

Grumbling, Larry glanced around, his self esteem quickly plummeting. "Look, how about we drop it and just decorate this thing?"

"My thoughts exactly, Larry," agreed Mr. Edgeworth, holding out the lights. "So how about we get started?"

With those words, the chaos began. Gregory Edgeworth had set out a couple of chairs and a small stepladder for the boys to use, their heights simply not allowing them to reach very high up the tall tree. He had also set out a larger stepladder, for his own use on the tree's highest regions.

Working together, the three nine-year-olds managed to string together the lights, and began attaching them to the tree lower down. As they went higher, the chairs and ladders came into play, assisting the young boys in reaching higher up. Eventually, however, even those were not sufficient, and soon only Gregory himself could reach.

Climbing down off of the ladder, the older man smiled at the three boys, standing around helplessly. "Well boys, I'm going to go grab another strand of lights, it seems eight weren't enough, so while I do that, why don't you start putting the tinsel on?"

Nodding, eager for something to do to help, the three rushed to the tinsel bag and began removing it to place on the tree.

Grabbing a huge fistful, Larry began ascending the large ladder that Gregory Edgeworth was using for the lights, intent on decorating the tree with tinsel higher up.

"L-Larry! What are you doing?" yelped an appalled Miles.

"Goin' to decorate the top!"

"Get down from there! My Father said not to climb that ladder!"

"Relax, Edgey, you worry too much!" exclaimed Larry. Leaning over to place some tinsel on the branches, the blond boy soon discovered that the ladder was too far from the tree for him to reach, having been placed for an adult's use.

Sticking his tongue out of the side of his mouth in concentration, he stretched out further, attempting to reach the branches.

Miles and Phoenix were left with nothing to do but watch in horror as the ladder was set off balance and began plunging into the tree.

Unfortunately for Phoenix, he was standing on the wrong side of the tree as it began to fall. Staring, frozen in place, and eyes wide with fear, he felt the tree crash into him. He was crushed firmly beneath its prickly branches, the ladder…and Larry himself. The blond boy had tumbled free of the ladder and was lying on the black-haired boy's arm, which was protruding slightly through the branches.

With a loud cry, Miles rushed forward, trying to help his friends free of the mess, dearly hoping they weren't dead.

Attracted by the screams and crash, Miles' father came rushing in, eyes going wide at the sight that met him.

"Miles wh-? Phoenix, Larry! Are you two okay?!"

"We're…fine, Mr. Edgeworth," reassured a trapped Phoenix, who was finding breathing slightly difficult with the weight crushing him.

By this point, Miles was trying to help Larry free. This act, however, only served to get his foot caught in the branches. When he tried to step back to pull Larry up, he ended up toppling over backwards himself, Larry landing half on top of him.

Reassured that all three boys were safe, Gregory was hard-pressed to conceal a laugh behind his hand; it really was a comical scene. Moving in to help them, the older man suddenly thought better of it and grabbed his digital camera that was resting safely on the mantel above the fireplace—thankfully the tree hadn't fallen that way. Snapping a few quick shots, he then moved in to help the boys free. What a day this was turning out to be.

Once the three boys had been freed, the tree had been set back up, and the broken light bulbs replaced, work was able to resume. Thankfully nothing had been seriously damaged—save maybe Larry's pride—and the decorating went smoothly after that. With Larry not allowed anywhere near the ladders.

A couple of hours later saw the four workers sitting happily around eating shortbread cookies loaded with icing, and drinking whipped cream loaded hot chocolate as they surveyed their work.

"—and that, boys, is the story of how I won the acquittal of Tracy Dent."

"Wow, Father! That was amazing!"

"So, Mr. Edgeworth, you gonna turn it on?" asked an excited Phoenix, rubbing the small cut on his forehead that had been inflicted by demon-tree branches. They had been sitting around listening to Mr. Edgeworth tell stories of his clients, but now the black-haired boy wanted to see the tree lit up before hearing another one.

"Going to. And yes, Father, may we see it turned on?"

"Certainly boys," replied Gregory as he climbed to his feet and made his way over to the tree. Bending down to the outlet he pulled up the extension cord and flipped the switch.

Flashing lights of brilliant blue, red, green, yellow, and orange lit the room, their colours illuminating the workers beautifully as the light reflected off of the ornaments and tinsel.

"It's so pretty!"

"It sure is, Phoenix, it sure is."

"Hey guys, come check this out!" called Larry, who had gotten bored of the story and went to look out the window.

Attracted by Larry's summons, the other three rose and joined the blond at the window.

"It's snowing!" Phoenix yelped, pressing his nose up against the window's cold glass.

"But we weren't supposed to get any snow…"

Ruffling his son's hair with an affectionate laugh, Gregory Edgeworth smiled. "Well boys, this just goes to show that things can change. They can change very suddenly. Now why don't you three go play in the snow?"

The three boys needed no further encouragement as they rushed to put their coats and boots on; and in the case of Larry and Phoenix, fight over spare pairs of Miles' gloves until the grey-haired boy got mad and decided for them.

All things said and done, it was still less than ten minutes later that the three boys were running around trying to scrap up enough snow to throw at one another.

Looking on from the warmth of his home, Miles' father smiled. It was nice to see the serious youngster engage in some foolish, childish play every so often. Certainly he was proud of the boy in every way that a father could be proud of his son, but there was no reason not to play, too. Childhood was for enjoyment, learning, and growing. While not everyone might agree with him, Gregory was pretty sure play was a good part of all three.

* * *

A little under an hour later, Mrs. Wright arrived to retrieve her son, only to find him being pelted by snowballs from both Larry and Miles. Stepping quickly to avoid any strays, she smiled at the sight, feeling almost guilty that she was going to have to break the three of them up.

"Phoenix, it's time to go home."

Wrinkling his nose, the black-haired boy frowned. "Aw but Mom, do I have to?"

"No, but if you stay here you won't be getting your presents tomorrow…"

With a slight yelp, he jumped forward, all but bowling her over in his eagerness to get into the car.

"Laughing softly, she shook her head in amusement. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you two around Larry, Miles."

As she was turning to leave, the front door opened and Mr. Edgeworth emerged.

"Gregory, how good to see you again. I trust Phoenix behaved himself?"

"Oh yes, the boys were all very good."

"Well that's good, I would hate to hear of Phoenix misbehaving himself," she stated cheerfully, with just a hint of underlying, parental treat directed at her son.

"I was good, Mom! It was Larry who knocked over the tree!"

Blinking, the woman sighed, feeling that she really did not want to know the story.

"Well, thank you for watching him for me today, I trust I will be seeing you around?"

"Oh yes, of course. Actually, the boys and I had so much fun today, that I was wondering if Phoenix, and you too, Larry, would like to come back tomorrow afternoon. You can show each other your new toys…maybe play in the snow some more."

"Really Father, they may come over again?" asked Miles eagerly, his grey eyes shining.

"If it's okay with their parents."

Smiling, Mrs. Wright nodded, "I don't see a problem with that."

"Excellent, shall we say around two?"

Nodding, Mrs. Wright made her way back to where her son was waiting by the car. "That sounds fine to me. I'll drop him off then!"

Grinning wildly, Phoenix waved to his two friends as he got into the car. "See you tomorrow!"

And with that, they drove away. Tomorrow would be a new day, Christmas Day, in fact.

Well, I've decided to make this into a two-shot, the next chapter covering Christmas Day—and the last time Larry and Phoenix ever see Gregory Edgeworth—so stick around guys. It isn't over yet!

* * *

_I'm not going to lie, Gregory Edgeworth fascinates me as a character. It's obvious how much Miles loves him, so I couldn't help but explore that relationship a bit in this random, childhood fic. Don't be surprised if I write more of these types of fic, focusing a lot on Miles' father too. XD _

_Anyway, reviews are much appreciated and get new parts up faster! Constructive criticism will be appreciated and flames will be laughed at and used to heat my house! _


	2. Christmas Day

_Well, I have but one thing to say to you guys: I'm so, so, so, so, so, SO SORRY for taking so long to update. I really have no excuse other than lack of motivation…I hope you can all forgive me…pwease? _

_A small word of warning for you too, there are definite spoilers for 1-4 ahead! So beware if you haven't played it! Not major spoilers, but still spoilers! Although…I'd think most people reading this have played that case anyway…:P_

_There are also very, very minor spoilers for Apollo Justice. Like…I don't think you can even call that a spoiler, but I feel the need to tell you because I'm paranoid like that. _

_Actually…I don't think you _can_ call that a spoiler, I really don't…_

**Anywa**_**y**_,_ enough of my rambling, now go ahead and read!_

* * *

Phoenix bounced impatiently on the spot as he waited for his mother to hurry up and get her coat on. He had been, unsurprisingly enough, waiting all day for this moment. He had so many new presents to tell Miles and Larry about. It was going to be awesome!

"Hurry up, Mom!" he whined, kicking the floor lightly with his new boots. "I'll bet even Larry's over there by now!"

Mrs. Wright laughed at her son's impatience. Being an only child, Phoenix really enjoyed going to visit with his friends. This was especially true on Christmas, when they all had new toys to play with.

"Be patient, Phoenix," she called back, good-naturedly, "I'll be there as soon as your father and I are done basting the turkey.

Groaning, the young boy had no choice but to comply. Plopping down onto the stairs, he stared out the door. It had really snowed out the previous night, blanketing the world in soft, white snow. Even now, several light flakes floated downward in silent mockery of the previous evening. It had been an enjoyable evening, even more so with his parents and Larry helping him finish his gift to Miles. Well, Larry had not literally helped, but it had been his idea.

"Okay, we can go now."

Startled, Phoenix turned to face his mother, who had suddenly appeared in the hall, wiping her hands on a towel. He had not realized how long he had been staring out the outside. It was kind of unnerving, really.

All of this was quickly forgotten, however, as the youngster bounded out to the car ahead of his mother. Today was going to be so much fun!

* * *

It was sometime later that they arrived at the Edgeworth residence. Bouncing out of the car, Phoenix sprinted up the stairs, not bothering to wait for his mother as he rapped sharply on the door.

Laughing, Mrs. Wright removed the two gift bags from the car before following her son up the steps. She'd be willing to bet that Larry, at least, would be less than pleased if his friend left the presents in their car.

She made it to the door just as Miles opened it, greeting his friend with a bright smile and a wave. Handing her son the two bags, she ruffled his physics-defying spikes as she turned to leave.

"You two have fun, I'll be back around four!"

Waving to his mother, Phoenix grinned as he followed his friend inside.

"Is Larry here yet?"

Miles nodded, which surprised Phoenix.

"Yes, he is here, actually. Believe me, I was as surprised as you are."

"Oh, well then let's open presents!" the black-haired boy cheered, holding up the two gift bags.

"Seconded!" Larry agreed from where he was sitting at the top of the stairs. "I've been trying to make Edgey let me open them all day, but he won't!" the blond continued, pouting slightly.

"First of all, it would have been rude not to wait for Phoenix, and secondly…you only got here fifteen minutes ago!" Miles exclaimed with an exasperated sigh.

Shrugging, Larry bounded down the stairs and snatched the two bags from his friend in one, swift movement.

"Race you back upstairs!"

With an apologetic shrug, Phoenix kicked off his shoes and took off after Larry, leaving Miles to tidy up the front area with a small sigh. He supposed it was for the best, however, at least Larry couldn't destroy his room with Phoenix there. Or so he hoped.

Following his two closest friends back up to his room, at a much more sedate pace, of course, Miles smiled to himself as he thought about his friends' reactions to the gifts he had gotten them. He sincerely hoped they would like them.

Joining the other two in sitting on his bedroom floor, Miles removed his gifts from the drawer were he had hidden them from Larry.

"So who's going first?"

"Me!" Larry yelped, leaning forward in an effort to snatch up the presents.

With a shrug, Phoenix handed over his gift to Larry, who quickly proceeded to tear open the bag.

Reaching inside, the blond boy yanked out a new action figure. "Nick, this is awesome!"

Grinning madly, the boy glanced between the new toy, and Miles' gifts, undecided as to whether he should open the next gift, or the toy's box first. Settling on the next gift, he quickly tore off the wrapping, grinning madly as he saw what was inside.

"Wow! Edgey, dude! I've always wanted my own woodworking kit!"

"Shrugging, slightly embarrassed, Miles glanced around his room, suddenly finding the walls very interesting.

Yes, well you have said so before…just don't burn any buildings down.

"Phoenix, do you want to go next?"

With a sheepish shrug, the black-haired boy accepted his gift from Miles, before tearing off the paper. Glancing at the box that had been concealed only moments before, Phoenix gasped. There, illustrated on the cover, was a beautiful, glass phoenix. The gold and red tinted glass coiled beautifully about the small object, giving it the appearance of flames and feathers.

"M-Miles…it's beautiful!" he gasped, not caring how feminine he sounded.

"Open mine now, Nick!" Larry called out, shoving his present into Phoenix' hands before Miles got a chance to comment on his friend's reaction.

Setting the box aside carefully, Phoenix tore the paper off of his gift from Larry. With a soft chuckle, the black-haired youth stroked the cover of the sketchbook with his free hand.

"Thanks, Larry. I needed a new one."

Nodding, Larry smiled widely.

"I thought you might have. You've taken to drawing on your notes now…"

Ignoring the jibe, Phoenix picked up the final present, handing it over to Miles.

"Here, this is from both me and Larry."

"Larry and I…" Miles corrected absentmindedly as he accepted the bag. Setting it down in front of him, the young boy carefully slit the tape so he could neatly open the bag.

With a soft gasp, he pulled out a large, handmade picture frame. Nestled within the frame was one of the very pictures his father had taken the previous day. The frame itself was made of wood, with the names of all three boys engraved into it.

"Larry…Phoenix…I…it's wonderful," he told them, running his fingers over the frame. He could tell Larry had made it himself, with Mrs. Wright probably supplying the photo—undoubtedly received from his own father—and Phoenix painting it. He could only imagine how much work his two friends had put into it. _Making_ a picture frame was no small task for nine-year-olds.

"Thank you. I-I love it."

Phoenix was about to reply to Miles' statement when Larry, intervened.

"Okay, now that that's over with…_snowball fight!_" he cheered, jumping up. "Come on you guys! Let's go!"

'Way to ruin the moment, Larry…' Phoenix thought, shaking his head before rising to his feet too. He really could not complain about the idea of going out to play in the snow.

"You coming, Miles?"

With a chuckle, the grey-haired boy fell into step alongside his spiky-haired friend as Larry dashed out the door.

"Phoenix?"

"Yeah?"

"Guess what Father is letting me do for Christmas!"

Slightly shocked, Phoenix blinked it was unusual for his normally solemn friend to act so excited.

"What is it, Miles?"

"He's taking me to court tomorrow!"

Phoenix grinned at his friend's words, only Miles…

"Well, that's awesome! Who's going to be…you know…that guy who…?"

"The prosecutor?"

"Yeah! Him!"

"Um, I think Father said it was going to be Prosecutor von Karma. He's one of the best in the country, but I'm sure Father can take him down!"

Phoenix nodded eagerly in agreement. Miles' dad was awesome, of course he would win!

As they entered the front hall, a rather irate Larry, who was standing with his arms crossed over his chest, met the two boys.

"There you are! I've been waiting forever!"

Raising an eyebrow, Miles made no comment as he simply grabbed his snow pants and began tugging them on.

Phoenix, however, refused to let the comment slide.

"Hey! We weren't _that_ long!" he retaliated as he grabbed his own snow gear.

"You boys going outside?" Gregory Edgeworth asked, appearing in the doorway, baster is one hand, measuring cup in the other, and an oversized, magenta apron tied around his waist.

"Nice apron, Mr. E.," Larry stated, glancing at the older man with a laugh.

"You think? My wife made it for me," responded the older man with a smile.

"It's pink!"

"It's magenta, Larry," Miles corrected as he pulled his boots on.

"Whatever, it's still a kind of pink!"

Still laughing, Gregory turned and made his way back into the kitchen as his son leered daggers at the blond boy.

"Have fun you three. I'll make you some hot chocolate when you come back in, if you want."

"That'd be awesome, Mr. Edgeworth!" Phoenix answered for them as he pulled on his mittens.

Ready to go, the three bolted outside, Larry well in the lead.

Skidding to a stop, the blond boy bent over, scooped up a handful of snow, and loosed it at Phoenix' spiky head.

Ducking his head, Phoenix laughed as the snowball shattered off of a support post on the Edgeworth's porch.

"You couldn't hit a fencepost, Larry!" he teased.

"No, but it would seem he can hit my porch."

"It's a big enough target!"

Annoyed with the teasing, Larry grabbed another handful of snow, instead loosing this one at Miles.

Phoenix nearly doubled-over with laughter at the sight of his friend with a face full of snow.

"Good shot, Larry!"

Spitting out snow, Miles glared about for a moment before grabbing his own snow. This was war.

Laughter, mingled with a few startled yelps, echoed around the lawn as the three boys pelted on another with the soft snow. Also mixed in were random cries of 'Take That!,' 'Gotcha!' and even one or two 'Objection!'s from Miles when he found himself with another snowball in the face.

"Hold it!" Miles called out, pausing to clean yet another snowball off of his face. This was getting ridiculous! How come neither of the others ever got hit in the face?

Chucking his last snowball away, Phoenix was about to suggest that they stop with the face-shots when he was interrupted by an unfamiliar yelp.

Eyes roving about to detect the source of the sound, Phoenix almost laughed when he locked eyes with a young boy of about his own age, snowball still resting on top of the boy's scowling head.

"S-sorry about that! I didn't realize you were there!" he apologized, walking over to the boy and what must have been the rest of his family.

The older woman laughed softly as her son roughly cleaned the snow off his own head. Shifting her younger son to the other arm, she gave the young boy a hand getting the snow out of his incredibly bright, blond hair.

"Don't worry about it, no harm done. Kristoph will live," she reassured, smile never fading.

"Phoenix! We're going to head inside!"

Rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, Phoenix grinned nervously.

"Well that's good, I guess I should be heading inside. Sorry again about that," he told them, turning once again to the boy—Kristoph—as he apologized.

"Niiiiiick! C'mon!"

With a small bow, Phoenix turned and dashed over to join his friends.

Noting the odd look on her son's face, Mrs. Gavin glanced down at him.

"Kristoph?"

"Phoenix…odd name," was his only comment, the Japanese words practically sticking in his throat, before he began walking away once again. It did not matter anyway.

* * *

"Who was that?" Miles asked Phoenix as the three stood, removing their now wet clothing in the front hall.

"I dunno, just some kid I accidentally hit with a snowball."

Miles sighed, of course Phoenix would hit an innocent.

"So you _don't know_ who he is?" he asked again, putting emphasis on the correct grammar.

"Nope, he had a funny way of talking though."

"Maybe he's from Osaka?" Larry chimed in, pulling off his boots.

"I don't think his accent was anything like that. It was…weird."

"Perhaps he's a tourist or something," Miles replied, shrugging as he watch his friends continue to remove their outdoor wear, having already done so himself.

Before either of the other two could reply, Gregory appeared in the door, three steaming mugs in one hand, a tray of cookies in the other, and that same, ridiculous apron.

"Here boys, why don't you go enjoy the fireplace until your parents get here?"

Accepting the food, the three boys took it into the living room, where the Edgeworth's tree stood, now safely tied up and Larry-proofed. Here they remained, fiddling with Miles' gifts, and Phoenix and Larry chatting about theirs, until Phoenix' mother arrived.

* * *

"Hey, boys," she greeted from the front porch. "Did you have fun?"

Nodding eagerly, Phoenix grinned happily.

"Yup, we had tonnes of fun! Can I go over again soon?"

Mrs. Wright laughed at her son's eagerness.

"We'll see, although maybe we should invite them over sometime too?"

"Not Larry! He'll break the house!"

Shaking her head, Mrs. Wright laughed softly.

"Well regardless, Larry, we're going to be driving you home. Your mother called a little while ago to see if we could pick you up."

"My Mom said I shouldn't get into cars with strangers," he announced, straight-faced.

"Well regardless, you're coming with me young man."

All three boys broke down chuckling at this, while Mrs. Wright and Gregory stood smiling.

"Don't forget your things, boys," Gregory reminded them, indicating the still-wet clothing and presents.

As Larry and Phoenix finally collected their things, they turned to Miles and Gregory.

"Well, see ya!"

"Call me after court tomorrow, Miles! I want to hear all about it! Maybe if you get home early enough you can come over to play for awhile!" Phoenix told him with a grin.

"Okay, I will!"

"Bye Miles! Mr. Edgeworth! See ya later!"

"Bye Phoenix, Larry!"

"See you later, boys. Enjoy yourselves!"

Turning back one last time, Phoenix waved, already looking forward to the call from Miles the next day.

A call that no one could have predicted would never come…and it would be fifteen years before Phoenix even knew why…

* * *

Miles Edgeworth, Demon Prosecutor Extraordinaire, sigh as he picked up the old, ratty picture frame from the mantle above his fireplace. The simple, digital camera print still clearly depicted himself, Larry, and Phoenix from years before.

Sighing again, the now much-older Miles ran his fingers over the smudged glass. He had never been certain as to why he had kept the old photo, it being one of the only things that he had taken with him from his old house, but he had. Now, thinking back on it, he was truly glad that he had taken it with him. It held so many memories for him. His father, the best Christmas Eve and Day of his life, followed immediately by the worst day of his life.

That day had been followed by many hard years, yet through it all a small, handmade frame and picture of three boys and a felled Christmas tree had come with him.

And he was darned glad that they had.

* * *

_Well, and that's the end of that. I must say, writing that last bit was totally heart wrenching. It like what…went from cute to angsty in forty words or less? Blah. I'm a horrible person… DX _

_Anyway, angst or not, I hope you enjoyed it and please review! –heart-_


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